My ChargePoint home unit just gave me a solid red light last week around 4pm. I tried the breaker flip, the reset button, everything I could think of for an hour. Turns out the internal GFCI had tripped from a tiny bit of moisture in the J1772 handle. I had to take the cover off and dry the pins with a microfiber cloth and a hairdryer before it would charge again. Has anyone else dealt with a moisture lockout on their home unit?
I pulled into the charger at my usual spot in downtown Austin this morning and noticed my odometer rolled past 10,000 miles. Got my Bolt back in March 2022 and I remember being nervous about battery life and range anxiety those first few weeks. But honestly it has been smooth sailing the whole time. I only charge at home on a Level 2 setup my brother helped me install in the garage. My electric bill went up about $30 a month compared to my old Civic which was costing me $150 in gas. The only thing I did was rotate the tires at 7,500 miles and top off the washer fluid once. Anyone else hit a big milestone with their EV and feel like it was way less drama than you expected?
Last month at an Electrify America station in Columbus, this guy in a Rivian rolled down his window and bragged about his 3 second 0-60 while we were both plugged in. I just nodded and pointed at his charge port door still open, which killed the mood fast. Why do some EV owners treat public charging like a car meet instead of a gas station?
So I've been trickle charging my Leaf at home for like 2 years, thinking it was better for the battery. My coworker Dave told me I was being dumb, said I'm babying it too much. Last week I finally tried a 50kW charger near my office downtown, knocked 40% back in under 20 minutes. Now I'm wondering if I've been wasting all that time waiting for a full charge when I could just top up fast when I'm out. But also I read that constant fast charging can degrade the pack faster. Has anyone else had this debate? What's your rule for when you use fast chargers vs home charging?
I used to plug in my Leaf every single night even after a 5 mile trip, thinking it was good for the pack. Then my neighbor Dave who works at a Nissan dealer told me that constant 100% charges actually stress the cells over time and recommended I only charge to 80% daily unless I needed the range. After 6 months of doing that my battery health meter actually went up 2%, so did that guy know what he was talking about or did I just get lucky?
Turns out the car warms the battery plenty just by driving 20 miles to the charger, so I saved the 20 minutes of idle time warming it at home and got the same peak charge rate, has anyone else tested skipping the pre-condition on shorter trips?
Back in 2017 I was running an extension cord from the kitchen outlet to my Leaf, praying it wouldn't rain. Now I just plug into my Level 2 charger and walk away. You guys think plug-in hybrids made the transition easier or did they just delay people getting serious about EVs?
The guy next to me said he’d been charging there daily for four months because his apartment complex won’t install a single outlet, and he saves about $50 a week compared to gas, but the machine dropped connection twice during my session - has anyone else had issues with those Shell Recharge units acting flaky?
Stopped at an Electrify America station in Boise last week and the guy next to me said 'you know you're supposed to stop at 80% unless you're road tripping' and now I feel like an idiot for every time I topped off to full at a mall charger has anyone else made this mistake?
Bought a 60-amp portable Level 2 charger off Amazon last October and now that it's below 40°F it cuts out every 15 minutes, so has anyone found a cheap one that actually handles cold weather?
Was running errands near the downtown branch in Portland and spotted a Level 2 in the back lot that wasn't on any app. Plugged in for 90 minutes and got enough range to skip my usual stop at the paid fast charger. Does your town have any hidden free spots like that?
After seeing that, I started wrapping my cable the way EVgo suggests and it hasn't gotten twisted once in 3 months. Has anyone else noticed folks treating cords like they're made of steel?
I stopped at a rest area off I-70 near Columbus last weekend to top up and noticed about 8 cars parked at the chargers that weren't even plugged in. Just taking up the spots while they napped or ate snacks. One guy told me he had an app that said the charger was free so he parked there anyway. Has anyone else run into ICE drivers or clueless folks blocking spots like that?
I used a basic 16-amp Lectron charger for six months here in Phoenix, but after switching to a 32-amp Grizzl-E unit last week, my overnight charge time dropped from 10 hours to under 5. The difference is night and day when you forget to plug in until 10 PM and need a full battery by 6 AM. Anyone else find that upgrading the amperage was worth the extra $200?
Left my car plugged in at a public charger in Phoenix last July when it was 115 out. Came back 3 hours later and the plastic around the handle pins was literally warped and soft. Turns out the charger had a loose connection inside causing resistance heat, plus the sun baked the rubber. I got the station owner to replace the unit, but my car's port was fine luckily. Anyone else seen charging equipment fail in extreme heat like that?
Got a used chademo adapter off ebay for $60 last month to use at the local quick chargers near Portland. Hooked it up twice and on the third try it fried the connector on my car, had to get a flatbed for $150 to get home. Anyone else had luck with cheaper third party adapters or should i just bite the bullet on the OEM one?
I was preparing for the worst when my 2018 Leaf rolled past 50,000 miles last week, especially after reading all those horror stories online about early battery fade. Charged it up to full and the guess-o-meter showed 147 miles, which is only about 7 miles less than when I bought it new. For context, I live in Phoenix where it hits 115 degrees in summer, so I figured the heat would have wrecked it by now. Has anyone else seen better battery life than they anticipated in a hot climate?
I was at Oak Brook Center last weekend thinking I'd grab a quick charge while I shopped. Turns out 5 of the 8 ChargePoint stations were down and the rest had ICE cars parked in front of them. Waited 45 minutes for a spot to open up and then paid $.42/kWh which is crazy compared to my home rate. After that I started using PlugShare religiously and checking reviews before I go anywhere. Has anyone else had better luck at specific malls or do you just avoid them altogether?
A guy at the Portland EV meetup told me my extension cord was a fire hazard because it was rated for 12 amps on a 16 amp charger. I swapped it for a 14-gauge heavy duty one from Home Depot for $25 and now it barely gets warm. Anyone else get called out by the EV nerds for something you thought was fine?
I do my weekly shopping at the Kroger on 14th street, and there's a Level 2 charger in the back corner that's almost always blocked by a gas car. Last Tuesday I waited 10 minutes for the owner to come out and move it. Has anyone else dealt with this at their local spots, or do your stores actually enforce the parking rules?
Last Tuesday I pulled up to a public charger downtown around 6pm. Plugged in, went to grab coffee, came back to find the car not charging and a weird clicking noise. Looked under the station and a squirrel had stuffed a whole acorn into the ventilation slot. Took a maintenance guy 20 minutes with pliers to fish it out. Has anyone else had wildlife mess with their charging setup?
I was waiting at the Electrify America spot off I-5 last Tuesday and this older dude in a Kona was explaining to his friend how he treats his battery like a phone. He said he sets his charge limit to 80% for daily driving and only tops it up to 100% before a long trip. I mean, I've been charging to 100% every night like an idiot for 6 months. Now I'm wondering if I've already messed up my battery's long term health. Has anyone else changed their charging habits after hearing something similar?
I needed an extra 15 feet to reach the outdoor outlet at my apartment complex in Austin, so I grabbed a 12-gauge cord from Home Depot for like 20 bucks. Plugged in my Level 1 charger and after about 3 hours, the cord end was literally deformed and smoking. Learned the hard way that EV chargers pull constant high amps way different than a power tool. Anyone else fry a cord trying to make a cheap extension work?
My neighbor who drives a Tesla told me to precondition the battery while still plugged in before heading to a fast charger. I always just jumped in and drove straight there. Tried it last week on a cold morning and my charge rate at the EA station in Portland went from 50 kW to 135 kW right away. Has anyone else noticed a big difference with preconditioning or is it just a newer car thing?
Last July in Phoenix I was plugging in my car after work and noticed the handle on my charger felt way too hot. Like you couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds. A guy from the local EV meetup saw me and said I was killing my charging speed by leaving it coiling up on the hot concrete. He showed me that if the cable gets too warm, the car throttles back the amps to protect itself. I tested it the next day - when I laid the cable out on a cooler surface in the shade, my charge rate jumped from 28 to 32 amps. That's like 15% faster charging for free. Has anyone else seen their speeds drop in extreme temps?